Due to vagaries of the MMP system, some list MPs must endure a period of waiting and uncertainty before they can enter Parliament.
Have you ever wondered what it's like to be a List MP sitting and waiting on the cusp of your party's vote result in a fluid post-election configuration? It can be touch and go.
Among the MPs elected to Parliament after October's general election, there are a few list MPs who first endured a period of waiting and uncertainty due to the vagaries of the MMP system.
On election night, Labour MP Tracey McLellan lost her Banks Peninsula electorate seat in a tight race. Initially it seemed she would get in anyway, via the Labour party list; however other results changed as the special votes came in, so she was out. She then teetered on the edge of Parliament for almost three months, until Rino Tirakatene retired and she moved up the list and back into Parliament to replace him.
"I knew I was in a position that was touch and go, and also I had to go through that waiting for specials which took another three weeks. Initially I was elected on the list, so post-election night I was in, and then other results flipped so then I wasn't. So it was quite a roller coaster of in-out-in," McLellan said.
"But that's okay, it's part of democracy, that's what happens and you've got to be prepared to roll with it. We don't have that security, because we're putting ourselves out there. It's a precarious position to be in at the best of times."
Despite mixed emotions after the election, McLellan said it was a chance to take some time to figure out how to feel about things. After the intensity of an election campaign, a few weeks away from politics can be therapeutic, whether resting by the sea or getting back into a rhythm with something else.
"I did go back to work for a bit, but only because there was some tasks that needed to be done and I thought well rather than hang around and wait I can go back and do that," she said.
"The New Zealand Nurses Organisation, which is where I worked beforehand, just so happened, over Christmas period, there were some things that they needed an extra pair of hands, and I said 'well, I've got that'. So it was good to get back into a routine."
Celia Wade-Brown of the Green Party knows well about hanging around while waiting for special votes to come. After all, that's how she became Mayor of Wellington in 2010, although she had a more decisive win in 2013…